Queen's Gambit
by Rupert Brown
Summary: After the events in the episode, "Eve" Joxer wakes up after his death to find himself in some ethereal realm along with a certain former DC Comics costumed vigilante.
1. Default Chapter

Title:"Queen's Gambit"  
  
Serial Segment:Chapter 1  
  
"Type":Crossover/Relationshipper-centric  
  
Subtext: No. Subtext? What subtext? Never heard of the stuff. ;-)  
  
Rating: PG [SC], [L]  
  
Spoilers: Possible Spoilers for "The Deliverer", "Maternal Instincts", "Back in the Bottle", "In Sickness and in Hell", and "Eve"  
  
Continuity Placement: By the necessity of certain events, this story must take place in an "alternate" Xenaverse, the main reason being that these selfsame events invalidate the majority of Season 6. At the very least "Friend In Need" cannot be worked into it. Anyway, it is valid up through the end of Season 5 at least and takes place sometime after that.  
  
Historian's Note: No known historical inaccuracies noted.  
  
Synapses: Joxer wakes up after his death to find himself in some ethereal realm along with a certain former DC Comics costumed vigilante.  
  
Author's Note:I wrote the first draft of this little ditty right after Joxer's demise in April of 2000. It helped me over the pain and loss (*sob*).   
  
The Series Finale has dictated certain continuity breaking events, but I still feel that it holds up.   
  
In addition to that, this was the very first Fan Fiction story I'd ever written, so I suppose that's some sort of personal milestone, and always a handy excuse to explain the lack of quality in a given piece. :-)  
  
The story is, as the Type says, a Crossover story. And while one gets the maximum amount of enjoyment out of the story by being conversant with the two "universes" involved, I do feel confident that the story is strong enough and clear enough to be understood and enjoyed by even those that *aren't* familiar with each fictional "Universe" featured.  
  
And while on the subject of other "universes", at the time this story was written certain fates of certain characters had not been revealed as of yet. Since then these fates have, so the continuity breaches extend to the material in this other "universe" as well.  
  
Oh, and one last, last, thing. Comments are always welcome. Even bad ones. I'm just as much a glory hound as the next guy. Remember, there's no such thing as "bad" press. ;-)  
  
Archival Permission:Yes. But I'd like to know first. (Like anyone would *want* this tripe! ;-)  
  
Disclaimer:All characters within are the sole property of Studios USA and/or Renaissance Pictures and AOL/Time Warner. The use of herein characters is for private use only. No infringement is intended, either expressed or implied. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003.  
  
QUEEN'S GAMBIT  
By Rupert Brown  
  
Prologue  
  
Cold. A cold that chills one to the marrow. Cold unlike anything before, yet tantalizingly familiar. Vacant. Silent.   
All enveloping.  
  
What was this place? How did he get here? What had happened? All these questions and more passed through Joxer's mind.   
Confusion reigned as he looked himself over, as though for the first time.  
  
"It's a kicker, ain't it? Who would have thought you'd end up spending eternity in your work clothes."  
  
Joxer wheeled around as the voice sounded behind him.  
  
"The name's Queen. My friends call me Ollie," said the man as he shook Joxer's hand.  
  
"Looks like you bought it too, eh?"  
  
Still dazed, the most Joxer could manage was a bewildered, "Huh?"  
  
"The big dirt nap. The long sleep. Pushing up daises. A long walk off a short pier."  
  
Joxer's eyes went wide at the implication. "You mean I'm-"  
  
"Dead? Beats the hell out of me. One minute you're flying above Metropolis with your arm stuck in a bomb and the next,"   
the man made a grand sweeping gesture, taking in the great expanse of nothingness all around them, "you're here."  
  
"For all I know this could be the physical manifestation of someone's mind. You see some weird stuff in my line of work.   
My motto's just go with the flow. What's your name?"  
  
"J-Joxer," Joxer replied, still trying to absorb the enormity of it all.  
  
"Joxer," the man repeated, familiarizing himself with the name. "Not any worse than 'Kal-El', that's for sure."   
  
"You're the first person I've seen since I've been here," the man went on. "Come on, looks like you could use a bowl of   
chili." And with that, he led Joxer away through the ether.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Some time later (if indeed time even existed in this place, for there was no way to keep track), Joxer was rested, well fed,   
and beginning to fully grasp the implications of his situation.  
  
While mulling over his 3rd bowl of chili, Joxer studied the enigmatic stranger before him.  
  
He was blond, of decent height. About as tall as himself, Joxer thought. Clad in what could only be described as a costume   
of some sort. Not unlike anything he had seen before, but not wholly familiar either. Sort of like what Autolycus wore.   
The predominate theme had to be the solid color of it all, that being green. Something like that of a woodsman, what with   
the thick high boots and gloves. And perhaps that's what he was, for it would surely explain the great bow and feathered   
arrows he carried upon his back.  
  
Perhaps the most striking feature though was the Van Dyke beard he sported, along with the odd hat he roguishly wore upon his   
head. At least that Joxer could readily identify. Amarice had worn one just like it when he'd first met her.   
  
But by far, the most prominent thing about this man had to be the easy way with which he both spoke and held himself. The   
attitude of one who is fully secure in their abilities, if not maybe a little vain as well. A man you could like well enough,   
but on his own terms. All in all, not that much different than Xena, Joxer thought to himself.  
  
He immediately wished he hadn't.  
  
Thoughts of Xena opened up the flood gates of his past, and what he could only guess were the recent circumstances that led   
up to his being, well, here. Wherever "here" was. And that brought home the feelings of loss, pain, and loneliness. Which   
in turn brought him back to his reminiscing of how things were. It was a vicious circle.  
  
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't realize he was speaking aloud at times. The word spoken most often being   
the name "Gabrielle".  
  
Ollie knew what Joxer was thinking, even without the benefit of the occasional outbursts. He himself had thought along what   
he rightly assumed were the same lines.  
  
His life, his "death". The things he had done wrong, the people he missed. Yes, he'd had the same thoughts. He also knew   
the danger from such a line of thinking.  
  
If you weren't careful it could drive you crazy. Bearing that in mind, he endeavored to strike up a conversation at the   
latest utterance of the name "Gabrielle".  
  
"Don't tell me," Ollie said. "You had a girl, but somehow things got screwed up between you, and before you can fix it,   
blam, you're here." He punctuated this with a vague wave of his hand.  
  
Joxer was startled out of his reverie. He hadn't been aware that he'd been talking out loud. He blushed and looked   
sheepishly at his feet.  
  
"Come on, out with it." Ollie pressed on. "A guy can only listen to himself for so long."  
  
Grateful for the chili, and feeling the need to talk to someone, Joxer haltingly, falteringly, began to tell his story.  
  
***  
"Rough stuff," Ollie remarked at the end of the narrative. It was certainly as wild as anything he'd ever seen. Though that   
whole 'evil spawn' bit sounded like something straight off 'Jerry Springer'. "'Your demon child killed my son!' Next on   
'Springer'." It was all he could do to stifle a laugh. He knew it wasn't funny, but Ollie was forever the satirist.  
  
In a lot of ways, his own life paralleled this kid's in a general sense. Falling for a blond. Going through some rough times.   
The bologna hitting the fan and screwing everything up. And then, before you can make things right, you end up in the happy   
hunting grounds, or whatever this place was.  
  
Dinah Lance, his 'one true love'. Ollie couldn't help but snort at that. Brother, how hokey did that sound? Next thing you   
know, he'd be spouting clichés like "Truth, Justice, and the American Way!" But whether hokey or not, he couldn't deny the   
truth of it.  
  
He did it to himself of course. No one to blame but him. He'd blown it, no two ways about it. Seemed like his whole life   
was nothing but one big string of gags at his expense. "So I guess this is the big punchline," he thought bitterly, while   
looking around the featureless void for perhaps the billionth time.  
  
With an effort, Ollie dragged his mind back to the present. Yeah, this kid sure had a tale to tell. Ollie especially   
thought that this Xena character would get along grand with Dinah. Both strong, stubborn women who were never beholden to   
any man, but weren't above using their devastating charm and beauty to get what they wanted if the situation demanded it.   
  
Ollie couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of a reversal of the old adage, 'Men wanted them and women wanted to be them'.   
And both had been through so much pain. They only needed to be held in someone's arms and told it would be all right. To be   
told--  
  
"Damn," Ollie thought to himself. "Circular thinking."  
  
It was over between him and Dinah before he ever ended up here. He hadn't been a part of her life for a while, and it was   
probably all for the best anyway. He was a conceited, cynical old codger. She deserved better. Hell, by now she probably   
had a dozen prospects to choose from. She could even be married for all he knew.  
  
"And besides," he tried to convince himself, "there's nothing I can do about it now anyway. Nothing except beat myself up   
over it and act like a damned dog chasing his tail. And all that'll get me is a one way trip to the funny farm."  
  
"Then again," he thought, "that could be where I am now."  
  
"So, how about you?" Joxer asked. That brought Ollie's mind back to the land of the living. So to speak.  
  
"Me? Well, let's see... It all started on a dark and stormy night when mister and missus Queen brought forth into the world   
a bouncing baby boy named Oliver..." And taking that slightly self-effacing tone he always did when talking about himself,   
Ollie launched into the account of his own life.  
  
***  
"This guy's been around the block a few times," Joxer thought to himself. He was especially intrigued by this Dinah lady.   
She reminded him of Gabrielle, and he felt certain the two of them would get along if they were to ever meet.  
  
Both had started this 'game' (as Ollie called their life of adventuring, something else Joxer had in common with this man)   
at an early age. Both had been trying to prove something to themselves and their parents. And both had become hardened due   
to the pain that later came in their lives.   
  
Rape. Beatings. The loss of a loved one. Joxer's eyes welled up as he thought of the hurt Gabby had been forced to endure.   
And the thought that he wasn't there to try and make it go away. She'd been lost to him for so long. So long.  
  
Funny that. He knew intellectually that he'd gone on with his life, married Meg, raised a family, grew old and died; but it   
seemed as though it had happened to someone else, not him. He seemed to see the past 25 years as though through someone   
else's eyes. He just felt no connection to it all. And what made it all the more strange was that everything up to Gabby   
and Xena's disappearance was so distinct. Everything up to that point felt more real somehow. More like the present in   
someway. The way he thought, the way he talked, everything. Even his appearance was that of a young man. He wasn't   
thinking as an old man looking back on life, but as a young one who has looked into a crystal ball and knows what the   
future would/did bring. It was strange, but in some way it seemed only natural.   
  
Is this what death is like? The thought brought him back to his surroundings, and the man talking animatedly before him.  
  
"So there I was, in my shorts, with a tequila shooter in one hand and a blonde in the other when..."  
  
Yeah, this guy had definitely been around the block. But like himself, he had always gone back to the woman he loved.  
  
"Huh," Joxer said to himself, "at least this 'Dinah' loved him back. All I got was a nose tweak and the cold shoulder."  
  
Feeling down in the dumps already, Joxer allowed himself to indulge in some self-pity.  
  
"What's wrong with me anyway?" he asked himself indignantly. "I'm good looking. I can cook. I can play the lyre. I can show   
the ladies a good time. Rrowr..." he finished with a waggle of the eyebrows.  
  
"I take a bath once a month whether I need it or not! I'm quite a catch!" And with that, he puffed out his chest some and   
lifted his chin up. The very portrait of a man who is self-assured and confident.  
  
And he just as quickly deflated back into his dejected slump at his next thought.  
  
"What 'I'm'? The only thing 'I am' is dead." He was right back where he started; though not quite. For it wasn't just   
sadness anymore that reigned, but more than a little anger now. Anger at why he was here. Anger at the events that had   
led up to it. Anger at all the stuff that had gone wrong, not just with himself, but with Gabby, and Xena too. All the   
things that could've been, might've been, but hadn't been.  
  
What had he done to deserve this? What had any of them done? They'd atoned for whatever misdeeds they'd done, hadn't they?   
They'd tried to live good lives, do good things, hadn't they? So why this? Why all the 'punishment'? Were the Fates to blame?   
But Xena always said we made our own fate. So where did that leave them?  
  
"No-where, that's where," Joxer thought. Right back to square one. Is this what Tartarus was like? Going from one sad   
thought to another, each leading to others, that in turn formed one big circle of torment for all eternity? Best not to think   
at all.  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard," Joxer snorted. He was forever being accused of not thinking as it was. His father. His   
brothers. Random strangers. Even Gabby had all but told him at one time or another that he never thought. That he was some   
sort of brainless idiot.  
  
"Gosh darn it," he thought, "I am not a brainless idiot. Who was it that figured out the secret of the black powder in   
Chin, huh? Me!" And he jabbed his thumb to his chest to emphasize the point.  
  
"Who was it that stopped a whole army without shedding one drop of blood? Me!"  
  
"And who was it that nursed the great Xena back to health? Me, Joxer The Mighty, that's who! Ha, Ha!" And with that, he   
bounded to his feet and burst out in a chorus of 'Joxer The Mighty', heedless of the slightly quizzical look of his companion.  
  
Once he had finished, he felt much better, better than he had yet in this place. If not a bit embarrassed by doing it in   
front of this stranger.  
  
"Don't worry," Ollie said, once he saw it had registered on Joxer's face what he'd just done, "I had a friend who would bust   
out in this cornball oath. Heh, I can still hear it now: 'In brightest day, in blackest night..." Ollie chuckled at the   
memory. All kidding aside, those were good times.   
  
Him and Hal traveling across the country, opening each other's eyes to the world around them. And though Ollie had always   
called him a square, Hal had taught him a thing or two about the way the world worked. Though he'd never let Hal know it.   
He'd never hear the end of it.  
  
Thinking about Hal still made him sick. It had ended all wrong. As wrong as anything can end. Ollie had done what needed   
to be done, but he had never felt right about it. He'd known Hal, been closer to him than anyone, with the possible   
exception of Barry Allen (and it was a shame about him too), and nobody would ever convince Ollie that Hal had gone renegade   
on his own. It just wasn't in Hal's make up to snap like that. Something had to have influenced him. Batman be damned.  
  
"Man," Ollie thought for the millionth time, "things really did hit the fan."  
  
Ollie had always wondered where Hal had ended up after "Emerald Twilight." Wherever it was, it wasn't here, that much was   
for sure. And for that Ollie was glad. Hal had never deserved the kind of silent torture one endures by being alone.  
  
But, Ollie reflected, he wasn't alone anymore. For whatever reason, this kid had been plunked in this same place. Well,   
he'd wanted the company, and though he hated to think some other poor slob had to go though all this, he was determined to   
show the kid all there was to know.  
  
"Come on," Ollie said to Joxer as he rose from his log. "Time you saw the 'Money Shot' of this here picture."   
  
And with that, he led a curious Joxer away into the mists. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Joxer and Ollie stood before what looked to Joxer like yet another   
patch of mist. No different than all the others constantly floating  
about, just out of reach.  
  
As they stood there, Joxer shifted from one foot to the other. They'd  
been standing here for what seemed like hours. He was starting to get  
impatient. Not to mention a little hungry. Maybe there was some   
chili left...  
  
"Wait for it," Ollie said, sensing Joxer's impatience. And frankly he  
couldn't blame him. Ollie had spent days (or what he guessed at being  
days) waiting for the results. Other times it would come on in a mad  
rush non-stop. It happened when it happened, and not before then.   
Ollie had never been a patient man in life, and it seemed that hadn't  
changed in 'death'.  
  
Joxer had just about had enough and was about to turn around to go   
back when it happened. The patch of mist in front of him shone, and   
an image began to form. As clear and crisp as if he were there. It   
was Gabrielle. She seemed to be sitting alone on a log. It appeared  
to be night. Joxer could just make out the sleeping form of Xena in   
the background, snoring away and dead to the world.  
  
Gabrielle seemed sad. Her eyes were downcast, and her entire body   
sagged as though it were carrying a great burden.   
  
Joxer stepped forward to try and comfort her, then realized where he   
was. The reminder rankled him. But it was nothing more than a mild  
irritant, for his entire being was focused on the image before him,   
and the words that started to sound out from nowhere. Joxer couldn't  
identify where it was coming from, it seemed everywhere at once, but   
he could recognize whose voice it was. And it belonged to the woman   
before him, his precious Gabby. And what was to come he would forever  
remember.  
  
***  
  
"I miss you Joxer," Gabrielle said. "I miss you." Those were the very  
words she'd said to her Furies' induced 'ghost' of Joxer. And she had  
meant it. Every word. Every sigh. She did miss Joxer.  
  
A feeling of loss was to be expected of course, but the way she felt,  
that was the thing. She felt sick, but not the kind of sick to the   
stomach feeling she had had when she'd seen someone die, or heard   
about it. No, it was as if a portion of her insides had been removed.  
As though someone had taken an organ. A squishy, hollow sickness.   
Like something vital to your life, something that in part made you who  
you were, was missing.   
  
Though she tried to hide it from Xena, she had had dry heaves ever   
since--gods, she couldn't even bring herself to say it, even think it.  
Did that dishonor Joxer's memory? She hoped not, because she couldn't  
think about that day, that incident. She just couldn't.  
  
She'd only felt this once or twice before, and that knowledge troubled  
her more than anything. She knew this feeling. She still had   
nightmares of what had brought it about. Or, at least she had until   
Joxer--no, can't think about that, she thought. She mustn't.  
But the point was that she knew this feeling from before. From when   
she had lost the one true love of her life.  
  
When Perdicus had died she had felt this. And to a lesser extent when  
Talus had died. But in both cases, she knew why she had felt that   
way.   
  
It was because she had been in love with them. And that knowledge   
thrilled, scared, angered, and saddened her all at once. And it   
brought her back to the question she'd been asking herself every   
minute since that day.  
  
Had she been in love with Joxer? Everyone treated her as though she   
had. But how could she have been in love with him without even   
knowing?   
  
"Did you?" she heard a tiny voice in her head ask her, "Did you really  
'not know'?" A legitimate question. Had she known? Had she always   
known, even before he professed his love?  
  
Thinking back, everything seemed to point to it. From the way she had  
thrilled at Joxer's kiss in the adventure of the bells, all the way   
down to the way she had tweaked his nose and generally beat him up.   
Like a child, Gabrielle thought. And it was well known that children  
often harass those they 'like'.  
  
The realization of which made Gabrielle smile in spite of herself.   
She had been a child. Still was in many ways, she was forced to   
admit.  
  
She had been forced to do a lot of growing up in these last few years.  
But there were still many things she was unschooled in. Matters of   
the heart being one of them. She had only made love once in life,   
what did she know about affairs of this sort? As a bard she adored  
the concept of love, and indeed, she liked nothing more than seeing   
two people in love. But at the same time she was frightened of it.   
The horrors that can result. The searing pain that comes from losing  
one's mate...  
  
Gabrielle choked down a sob. She had to be strong. For everyone's   
sake. But she felt it nevertheless. Like the fraying of a rope.   
Strand after strand pulling taunt and snapping.   
  
First it was Talus. Then it was Perdicus. Then the loss of her blood  
innocence. Then Hope, and all that she had wrought. The rift that   
had formed between her and Xena. Then her near death. The change to  
the Way of Peace, only to be violently broken by massive amounts of  
bloodshed. Then Eli's death. Then the news of Amarice's. Then her   
and Xena's entombment in ice for the past 25 years. Then thawing out,  
only to find that all your friends and loved ones are dead, or have   
changed so very, very much. And knowing that you weren't with them to  
be a part of it.  
  
Seeing all the lost opportunities. But by the gods, she had felt   
pained when Joxer had introduced her to his son Virgil. If only   
things had been different... That could have been our son.   
  
And that thought only fueled the fire of Gabrielle's confusion.  
  
"Our son...?" Does that mean that I was, am, in love with him?  
  
"I don't know. I just don't know." The same answer she always seemed  
to come back to. She couldn't deny that she had felt jealous when   
Joxer had been making time with Amoria during the adventure of the   
magical lyre. The more she thought about it, the more it resembled   
the progression of her relationship with Perdicus. Right down to the  
very end with both men... Gabrielle shied away from the word.   
  
On the face of things, it would seem pretty clear what Joxer had meant  
to her. But another part was afraid to dare utter it. For if she had  
been in love with him, she had blown it. Her own ignorance coupled   
with Fate had robbed her of it. For if she were to admit that she  
loved him, she would also have to acknowledge the violent loss of that  
love. To admit to that which could have been, but never will be, was  
too much for her.   
  
Liked the frayed rope, Gabrielle felt that she was this close to   
snapping.  
  
She'd already given into her guilt once, and almost killed Eve. Which  
only magnified her guilt. Gabrielle felt numb, a numbness that comes  
not as an absence of pain, but that which comes to those who are   
immersed in it to their very soul.  
  
Irrationally, she projected her anger on Joxer. Why did he choose her  
to fall in love with? Hadn't she had enough problems without having to  
deal with how she felt about him? What did she know about love? She'd  
been a wife for one day and had never had a boyfriend. Joxer had  
been with every woman in Greece, why couldn't he have chosen one of   
them?  
  
She immediately felt ashamed. Too often in life she had projected her  
anger on Joxer. And now she was doing it in his death. The thought   
made her gag, and she could feel the dry heaves starting again.   
  
It was an honor to be loved by someone, she knew. A gift a person only  
bestows upon the most worthy of people. Her anger dissipated, though   
the shame for her hasty words remained.  
  
Love was the greatest gift anyone can give. Joxer loved her, and   
she... she... she didn't know what she felt. Did she love him? Or   
more to the point, had she been falling in love with him?  
  
The thought was a sobering one, and it made her sit up straight.   
Could she be feeling all this because she had been falling in love   
with Joxer? If only she had had more experience with the subject.   
She'd either been fully in love, as with Perdicus, or in the very   
early stages as with Talus. She had never been in this 'twilight'   
realm of in-between.  
  
She wondered, would this have been what it would have felt like if   
Perdicus had died after she saw him again in Troy, but before she had  
married him? She had a sneaking feeling that she knew the answer, but  
couldn't bring herself to admit it.  
  
What good would it do to admit it now anyway? Nothing good could come  
of it. "But you would be dishonoring his memory if you don't," that   
small voice in her mind told her. It was at that point that she   
couldn't take it anymore. Wringing her hands, and keeping her voice  
down so as not to disturb Xena, Gabrielle started talking to the night  
sky.  
  
"It--It's said that the dead can hear our thoughts Joxer. I don't   
know if you're listening or what, but, well, I... I... feel bad."   
She finished lamely. 'Bad' was an understatement.  
  
"What I mean is," she continued, "that I miss you Joxer. And ever   
since--," she choked up, but continued on, heedless of the tears that  
were streaking down her face. "Since you died, all I've been able to   
do is think about you. About us." She had started to get to the   
point.  
  
"I--I don't know what might have been Joxer. Who's to say? I only--I  
only wish..." she trailed off, looking for the right words.   
  
"I only wish that we'd had a chance to see. I--" Gods, this was   
harder than she thought, harder than it should be.  
  
"I don't know what I feel about you Joxer. All I do know is that I   
wish I had the opportunity to try to see if-if..." She faltered,   
biting her lower lip as if to give herself strength.  
  
"I love you..." she finished in a whisper.  
  
So many questions, and no answers forthcoming. Frustrated, she   
collapsed onto the ground. Oblivious to the chill night air, she   
eased into a fitful sleep penetrated by the smell of blood and the   
taste of death. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Joxer continued to stare long after the image had faded away. He   
was blown away. He didn't know what to think. What to say.   
Insanely, like a man who in the midst of a fire chooses the most   
trivial object to save, a small voice in Joxer's mind berated him   
for having gotten himself killed, thereby causing Gabby's current   
anguish.  
  
Ollie stood with him, and knew just what the kid was going through.  
Ollie'd been able to hear the whole conversation too, and he had to  
admit that as jaded as he was, even he felt sorry for these two   
'star-crossed lovers'. Being a bard, he was sure this Gabrielle   
would've appreciated the reference.  
  
Before long, Joxer's awe was replaced by wonderment, then an   
insatiable curiosity.  
  
"What was that? How did it happen? Can you control it?" Joxer   
rattled off these questions and more before, bemused, Ollie told   
him to slow down and take it easy.  
  
"As for what it is, your guess is as good as mine. Crystal ball,   
scrying pool, magic portal. Me, I call it the 'Boob Tube'. What   
matters is what it does," Ollie explained, "and that's show the   
thoughts of whoever is thinking about you. Usually someone close   
to you."  
  
Ollie held up his hand to forestall a fresh batch of questions.  
  
"There's no telling when it'll kick in. I guess whenever it wants   
to, or whenever you come up on someone's mind." Ollie shrugged his   
shoulders.  
  
"It's strictly a one way thing. Believe me, I yelled myself hoarse  
trying to catch someone's attention."  
  
Joxer's face fell a little. He had wanted to let Gabrielle know   
that everything was all right, and that she should feel no guilt   
whatsoever. The idea of Gabrielle hurting over him made his   
stomach knot up. To think that he was causing Gabby pain made him   
want to curl up and die.   
  
Then he remembered where he was.  
  
But for all the guilt he thought he should feel, he couldn't help   
but feel good. Gabrielle might be in love with him! Maybe more   
than 'might' if her own feelings were to be believed. And the   
thought that the girl he loved might love him back set his heart on  
fire. He felt lightheaded, so he simply plopped down, a few   
floating bits of mist being the only indication of doing so.  
  
Although Ollie had his own problems, he couldn't help but feel   
happy for the kid. To fall in love with a woman, and to actually   
have that woman return those feelings, was the greatest feeling in   
the world.  
  
"Well," Ollie amended while stroking his beard and grinning   
rakishly, "Almost the best feeling."  
  
He'd known that feeling once, with Dinah. Truth be told, he still   
did.  
  
But while he was glad for Joxer, he couldn't help but be a little   
jealous. It'd been a while since he'd seen anything in that 'pool'.  
  
He and Dinah had been together for years. They'd had a bond with   
one another. The least she could do was a little mourning every   
now and again, Ollie grumbled.  
  
The thought caused Ollie to shake his head at himself. "Selfish   
bastard," he chided himself. "No wonder she left me." And with a   
self-deprecating chuckle, he turned his attention back to Joxer.  
  
"Come on," Ollie said, laying a hand on Joxer's arm to lead him   
back to the 'campsite'. "Can't be sitting here waiting like a girl  
by the phone. You'll know when another 'call' is coming through."  
  
Reluctantly, Joxer got to his feet and followed Ollie back.   
Perhaps that was best anyway, because he felt as though he was   
shutting down, drowning or something. Yeah, he'd go back to the   
camp. He needed some time to sort this all out. To think about it.  
And time was the one thing he had in abundance. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
It had been several, well, Joxer couldn't really say 'days', but it  
had been several somethings since he'd come here. He'd done a lot   
of thinking in the interim, and had been back many times to 'the   
pool' since his initial contact.  
  
On one hand, he was ecstatic that the girl of his dreams, his Gabby,  
was possibly in love with him. But another, and now far larger,   
part of himself was ashamed of it. What good could come of it for   
Gabby? Her loving him, or possibly loving him, was only causing her  
more and more pain. And the knowledge that it was he who was causing  
it was more than he could bear. So, though it tore him up to think  
it, he wished Gabby didn't love him, so as not to hurt. For Gabby's  
well being, he'd sacrifice his heart's desire.  
  
And perhaps, just perhaps, that one unselfish gesture is what led   
to what was to come.  
  
But a man can only dwell on the same thing for so long until the   
rest of his mind starts to rebel. And for all the weighty thoughts  
he had 'thunk', and the good food and company he had, he was   
beginning to get bored. He felt the need to do something. And he   
said as much to Ollie while they were eating.  
  
Ollie could sympathize, he'd been there himself. A thoughtful look  
passed over his face as he looked Joxer over, as though for the   
first time again. Having done that, he placed his bowl down and   
stood up. And still wearing that thoughtful look he asked Joxer,   
"What do you know about archery?"  
  
Caught off guard, Joxer could only answer with a mumbled, "Not   
much."  
  
It seemed to Ollie that he'd hit upon a solution to all their   
problems. Well, all except how to get out of here.  
  
He was no Richard Dragon, but he could throw a roundhouse right as   
well as the next guy, and from what he'd gleaned from Joxer's past,  
coupled with Ollie's own assessment of the kid, all Joxer needed   
was someone to give him a chance. All he needed was some training.  
He had all the tools, just no one'd ever taken the time to show him  
how to use them.   
  
They sure had plenty of time now, and training would take both   
their minds off their worries.  
  
"Hell," Ollie thought to himself, "it might even be fun."   
  
And though you'd be hard pressed to find a worse role model, Ollie   
had done the 'mentor' thing a time or two. Having already decided   
on it, he answered Joxer's depreciative reply with a hearty,   
"That's about to change."  
  
And with that, their education and the exorcism of both their   
private demons began. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Ollie wasn't some sock-choppy kung-fu master like Lady Shiva or   
Batman, but he was better than the average slob, and had been in  
more than a scrape or two in his life. And so, he had been   
instructing Joxer in the 'manly art of self defense'.  
  
"No, no," Ollie admonished him, grabbing his arm. "Lead with   
your left, then slide in with your right."  
  
The kid was coming along pretty well. He had a good quick jab,   
only lacked sufficient power behind it. But he was progressing   
pretty well. And the clumsiness was fading. Ollie attributed   
that to the bow lessons, where he had to admit the kid was   
excelling. He had the right build for it, Ollie knew. And he'd  
suspected that he'd get the grip of it fast. He hadn't been   
disappointed. The kid was a natural. All the best archers were,  
Ollie reflected. Himself, Roy, even Connor seemed to have had a  
knack for it.   
  
"Yep, if this kid ever gets back in the real world he'll be a   
force to reckon with," Ollie thought.  
  
The 'real world'. The biggest 'if' of them all. Was all this   
just wasted effort? Were they really supposed to spend all of   
eternity here?  
  
Ollie didn't know, but one thing he did know was that he wasn't   
going to let that thought creep back into his mind. This   
training had been beneficial to both of them. Joxer gained   
confidence in himself, and skill; and Ollie got a feeling of   
satisfaction. That he was useful again. He felt needed again.   
  
"Nothing more pathetic than an unemployed 'super hero'," he   
thought. He was doing something good. Accomplishing something.   
Allowing him to exorcise his demons, to no longer feel like he   
failed at everything. Like he had failed Dinah. And Roy. And   
even Connor. This made him feel like he could do something in   
his life without screwing it up.  
  
Yeah, they were both cutting a fat hog in the ass on this one.  
  
"Choke up on your lead, and guard your right," Ollie called out   
before refocusing his efforts. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
It just didn't seem the same, Xena thought to herself. The   
change of time periods could be a large part of that, she had to  
admit, but somehow she didn't think that was all there was to it.  
It was more than the change of time. More even than the presence  
of her grown daughter. No, it was more a feeling that something  
that should be there, had to be there, simply wasn't.  
  
She also suspected she knew what it was.  
  
It had been vaguely unsettling to see Joxer as an old man. So   
much so that she had spent much of the time avoiding him.   
Something she now regretted. Deeply. It had just been too...   
too strange to see him like that. To see her 'little brother'   
all grown up and with a wife, children, and all that. To not   
have been a part of that, to not have seen it... "I don't know,"  
she thought to herself, "but I just couldn't connect with it,   
with him." It was almost as if it weren't real. As if this man   
hadn't been their Joxer.  
  
She still had problems absorbing it. But nothing, she suspected,  
compared to what Gabrielle was going through.  
  
She'd tried to hide it, but Xena knew that she'd been having dry  
heaves ever since that day. She ate little, and slept less. Her  
eyes were starting to get bags under them, and she seemed to be   
aging right before Xena's eyes. But there was nothing she could  
do or say. She couldn't even bring up Joxer's name for the pain  
that would light in Gabrielle's eyes.   
  
To the untrained observer it might even look like they hadn't   
cared about his death. No words, no tears. But they grieved.   
The silent, most hurting kind of mourning.  
  
Gabrielle had always been their strength, but these last few   
years had tried her sorely, and Xena feared that Joxer's death   
had been the final straw. For it was now Gabrielle who was the   
stoic, silent one. She who had once been so full of joy that it  
burst forth affectionately, was now as emotionless as the walking  
dead. And this worried Xena deeply.  
  
But what worried her even more was that there was nothing she   
could do, nothing she could say, to make things right. And so   
she was forced to do nothing, while at the same time forced to   
witness the slow, lingering death of her beloved companion and   
friend.  
  
"Joxer," she thought, "I miss you." 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Gabrielle gathered up her belongings to start on the road.   
She'd had the dreams again. Since those first few days, her  
sleep had been less troubled, but that in turn only made her  
waking moments more unendurable.  
  
The smells and images of blood had passed from her sleep,   
only to make way for something much worse.  
  
Joxer.  
  
He pervaded her dreams now. But it wasn't that they were   
unpleasant. Quite the contrary, they were too good. In her  
dreams, she was with Joxer. Joxer as she knew him. Alive,   
funny, loving. Everything about him was right. His looks,   
his actions, even his smells were 100% perfect.   
  
And how she enjoyed those dreams. How many times she had   
cried out with relief that he was all right? And how many   
times did she apologize profusely for how she had treated   
him, and sought to make up for it through song and verse,   
and myriad other ways...? Yes, in her dreams she had   
realized what her waking mind would not attest to:  
  
That she had been, and still was, in love with him.  
  
And oh, such joy she experienced in those dreams! The things  
they did, the time they shared. Never before had she felt so  
giddy, so happy. And therein lay the seeds of her despair.  
  
For while in the height, the very midst of their   
togetherness, some small, malignant part of her mind told her  
that it was just a dream, and she would wake up to find none  
of it true.  
  
And the pain, the unmitigated anguish that would come with   
that realization. No! No! It had to be real, it had to be!   
No! Please! Don't take him away again! Please! I don't want   
to wake up, please don't let me wake up! Let me stay, let me  
stay! And she would pray, to whomever might be out there,   
with every fiber of her soul to please let it be. To not   
take him back.  
  
And then the veil of sleep would start to lift, and Joxer and  
everything around her would start to slip away. And she   
would stretch - oh how she would stretch! To touch him, to   
maintain contact. Tears streaming down her face, she would   
call out his name and huddle into a heap amid the nothingness  
about her. And she would wake to find herself still crying.   
  
Her day would be unbearable. She sought only the reprieve of  
sleep, in order to recapture his face. His form. His self.  
And thus she would stumble through the day, wishing only for  
the night to come ever sooner, to ease the pain she felt in   
her breast. Thus the cycle would continue, day in and day   
out.  
  
This did not go unnoticed by Xena, who could do nothing but   
sit back and watch her friend slowly slipping away from the   
land of the living. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Joxer had once heard it said that dreams are the gateway to   
the dead. The thought had suddenly occurred to him, and with  
it a mad, passionate plan had formed.  
  
Joxer had long since given up on trying to communicate via   
the pool due to Ollie's pronouncement. But he thought that   
maybe Ollie just hadn't tried the right way.   
  
The pool had 'summoned' Joxer, letting him know that there   
was an image waiting for him. And so he went.  
  
It was Gabrielle of course, and she was having those dreams   
again. Dreams tainted with the smell of blood and the taste  
of death. Whimpering, Gabrielle would thrash about, seeking  
to run, hide, get away from the vicious images that assailed  
her. But there was no hiding from them, for they would not   
be denied.   
  
And this angered Joxer, to see his beloved tormented so made  
him wrathful beyond measure. If only he could help her. Be  
her knight in shining armor and rescue her from the demons   
that assaulted her. For perhaps the hundredth time, he   
impotently pounded his fist into his hand.   
  
And it was at that precise moment that Joxer remembered the   
old adage. And he also realized that he knew it to be true   
enough, for Xena had experienced it herself with Callisto.  
  
'Dreams are the gateway to the dead.' It may be a mad scheme,  
but Joxer was willing to try absolutely anything. And with   
his mind made up, he did close his eyes and bring to bear   
everything that he was. He focused all of his being, every   
atom of his existence, upon the scene in front of him.  
  
And slowly, like paint sliding down a wall, he did   
materialize into a whirlwind of grief, rage, and guilt. The  
force was staggering, and nearly broke the connection. But   
then he glimpsed her, huddled like a child, her arms covering  
her head, her body shuddering with fear, whimpering in pain.   
  
And at that moment, no force on earth would stop him. The   
link solidified, and there, in the midst of Gabrielle's own   
private hell, stood her savior. Resplendent in a blinding   
light, he did issue forth and smite at the overwhelming   
despair about him. And a deafening anguished wail went up. Whether from the thwarted force of darkness or herself, Gabrielle did not know. Nor did she care. All that mattered to her, all that mattered period, was that Joxer was here. And somehow, instinctively, she knew that everything would be all right. For he would protect her. As he always had.  
  
And so Joxer entered into Gabrielle's dreams. And so it was  
night after night he would spend with her. Their happiness   
only spoiled by the coming of morning, when the bonds of   
sleep were broken and wakefulness intruded itself once more. When they were forced apart and Gabrielle would utter a despairing, mournful wail as they both went back to their respective planes of existence.  
  
Both tried to hide their actions from their companions.   
Joxer out of guilt for egging on Gabrielle's feelings for   
him, though they could never really be together. And   
Gabrielle because she was sure that Xena would think her   
crazy. But perhaps more disturbing, she thought, was the   
fact that she wanted to be so. For if this was madness, she  
had no use for reality.  
  
And as sometimes happens to one who is unbalanced by pain,   
an unhealthy plan formed in Gabrielle's mind. For if she   
could only be with Joxer in her dreams, she would seek to   
live in an 'eternal dream'. With this insane thought, she   
started down a dark path that would bring much sorrow all   
around before its end would be reached. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Ollie could tell the kid was hiding something. He had   
too honest a face to keep any secrets. Ollie had his   
suspicions, but he would keep them to himself for the   
time being. As long as nothing bad came of it, the kid   
could do what he wanted. Hell, even if something did   
come of it, he was a grown man, if still a little wet   
behind the ears.   
  
However, that wetness had been substantially drying up   
over the last few, what? Weeks? Months? Years? Ah, who   
knew, and who cared. What mattered was that the kid was  
doing well in his training.   
  
"Maybe too well," Ollie reflected, rubbing his chin. The  
kid had definitely licked the 'power' problem of his   
punches, that was for sure. He was already starting to   
make Ollie sweat during practices.   
  
It won't be long now till he starts teaching me in hand   
to hand, Ollie thought, not without a bit of pride.  
  
Ollie still ruled in the archery department, but again,   
that was to be expected, he thought smugly. He hadn't   
got his name because he was a bad shot. But yeah, the   
kid's good. Damned good.  
  
Ollie had seen a lot of bowslingers in his time, but   
Joxer was one of the best. Give it time, and he could   
give Roy a run for his money.  
  
Hell, let the kid have his secrets, he thought. With the  
job he's doing he deserves them.  
  
With that, he refilled his and Joxer's bowls with some   
more chili. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
Something was going on. Xena knew it in her bones.   
Gabrielle had suddenly perked up lately. She seemed like  
her old self, even going so far as to softly hum to   
herself.   
  
Xena could've sworn they were snatches from Joxer's old   
song, but that couldn't be. Gabrielle still didn't   
mention Joxer, but she seemed chipper - heck, she seemed  
downright happy. And Xena was glad for her. She really  
was. At first.  
  
But over the past few days, Gabrielle had asked to stop   
in some villages and pick up some stuff. They really   
already had everything they needed, but Xena wasn't about  
to deny her friend anything after her recent ordeal. If  
she wanted to stop and pick up a few things, more power   
to her.   
  
But what started that suspicious feeling, that disturbing  
prickle along her spine, wasn't so much the fact that   
Gabrielle was getting stuff, but the particular things   
she was getting.   
  
Xena had questioned Gabrielle once or twice about the   
things she had picked up, but she had laughed it off and  
gave some excuse for their medicinal properties. And   
Xena had a hard time faulting it. On the surface it all  
seemed reasonable enough, but something in her gut told   
her that something wasn't right.   
  
Xena made a point to keep her eye on Gabrielle.  
  
***  
"There, almost finished," Gabrielle said to herself. She  
almost had everything she needed.  
  
She'd had to be careful, so as not to arouse Xena's   
suspicions. True, there were much simpler ways to achieve  
what she had in mind, but they would have immediately   
tipped Xena off. No, the slow but steady approach was   
much better. It might take longer, but the pay off would  
be worth it.  
  
Gabrielle's eyes glazed over at the thought. Joxer.  
  
"Soon," she crooned to herself. "Soon." 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
When it happened, no one was prepared. Not Ollie, not  
Xena, and especially not Joxer. No, the only one who   
was had been Gabrielle. And none could have guessed   
the events that were to follow.  
  
Gabrielle had done it. She had obtained all the   
ingredients she had needed. And without Xena's   
finding out. For if she had known what Gabrielle was   
about to do, she would never have allowed her to go   
through with it. And that was not something Gabrielle  
was willing to let happen.  
  
It had taken a little longer than she thought it   
would, but it had been worth it. For now, in her   
hands, she held the means to bring Joxer back. Or   
more to the point, to allow her to be with him in her   
dreams forever and all time.   
  
What she held in her hands now was a means to achieve   
eternal sleep. Not a poison, no. Gabrielle did not   
feel the release of death would help her. And even in  
the midst of her own pain, she knew what anguish her   
own death would cause to Xena, and she couldn't allow   
that. No, what she had in her hands was the perfect   
compromise. One drink of the potion she had brewed   
would put her into the 'sleep of the undead'.  
  
A coma.  
  
She would still be alive, but she could spend the rest  
of it with Joxer. Sweet, brave Joxer. An eternal   
dream was far more appealing than the nightmare she   
lived during the day.  
  
For so long she had tormented him. For so long she   
had denied what was in her heart, until it was too   
late. But no more. No more. She would make things   
right. As they should've been. As they should be.  
  
Summoning all her courage, she did the bravest thing   
she had ever done. Holding the bottle before her,   
and taking a deep breath, she said aloud for all the   
world to hear:  
  
"I love you Joxer. I need you."  
  
Then she did the second bravest thing she had ever   
done. She drank from the bottle. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
That 'night' somehow seemed different to Joxer. The   
dreamscape seemed brighter, more vibrant than before. But he didn't have long to contemplate it before she arrived. Joxer was stunned.  
  
The long blond hair. The green top. The brown skirt.  
She looked just as she had the first time he'd seen   
her, as she had when he'd fallen in love with her.   
Not only that, but she seemed positively radiant.   
The hardness of her face had softened, the crowsfeet   
and worry lines had melted away. She looked like the   
cherubic girl he had first known, ready to take on the  
world. Untroubled by what would come later in life.  
  
Joxer was too surprised to say anything. Which suited  
Gabby just fine, for at that moment she didn't want to  
talk. She wanted to feel. Feel his hand caressing   
her hair. Feel his warmth next to her. Feel his   
comforting embrace. There would be time for talking   
later. The rest of her life in fact...  
  
***  
Xena awakened to find Gabrielle sprawled on the ground  
with a bottle close at hand. It didn't take her long   
at all to figure out what had happened. And she   
blamed herself for allowing it to occur.  
  
All the signs had been there, but she just hadn't been  
willing to believe that Gabrielle was that desperate.  
She believed it now, for all the good it did her.  
  
It was then, while she was thinking of what to do,   
that Xena looked at Gabrielle in horror and saw the   
dark blue line that had slowly begun to crawl from her  
brain to her heart.  
  
***  
"You did what?!?" Joxer asked, coming bolt upright and  
facing Gabrielle.  
  
"I put myself in a coma!" she gleefully responded, not  
noticing the stark terror in Joxer's voice.  
  
"What'd you go and do that for?" Joxer wanted to know.  
Had he thought about it of course, it would have been   
simple enough to figure out. But right then he   
couldn't think about anything.  
  
"So I can be with you, silly!" Gabrielle laughed as   
she playfully swatted him.  
  
"Are you nuts?" Joxer practically yelled. "You can't   
just throw your life away! People need you! Xena needs  
you--"  
  
"You need me," Gabrielle interrupted. "Xena will be   
fine. And we'll meet up again in another life. Or in  
Heaven. Or wherever we go. We're soul mates, so   
we'll always be together. But here, now, this life,   
I want to spend with you."  
  
Joxer had longed to hear those words, but not like   
this. Not at the expense of Gabrielle's reality. He   
wanted to be with her more than anything, but at the   
same time he couldn't have her live her life in some   
dream world. He couldn't. He wouldn't.   
  
And he was about to say as much when Gabrielle, crying  
out, grabbed at her chest and pitched forward. Joxer   
immediately shot out and caught her. What was going   
on?  
  
"What's wrong? What's happening?" Joxer asked   
anxiously.  
  
"I... don't... know..." Gabrielle gasped out between  
breaths.  
  
***  
In that moment, the full implications of what had   
happened hit Xena. Gabrielle had some skill at making  
medicines granted, but she was no healer.  
  
She was dying.  
  
The wrong proportions, by even the smallest amount,   
were deadly in the concoction of this brew. The   
'sleep of the undead' was a difficult potion to make,   
even for those who knew what they were doing. All it   
took was one mistake for it to be fatal. Gabrielle   
had made that mistake.  
  
And now she would die for it, because there was no   
antidote. None at all.   
  
But that didn't stop Xena from doing everything she   
could possibly think of to try. In what time she had   
left.   
  
Gabrielle must have taken it early in the night, for   
the poison had already traveled over halfway down from  
the brain to the heart.  
  
But even as she broke out the medicine kit, she knew   
that there was nothing she could do. And she cried   
out to the heavens in anguish. 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
Ollie was startled out of sleep by a tormented, suffering cry that  
seemed to permeate the very ether around him. Quick on the   
up-take, he had grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows and cocked   
his ear to listen.  
  
There it was again, from, if directions can be believed in a place  
that has none, the direction of the pool.   
  
So, muttering a curse, he set off as fast as his legs would take   
him.  
  
It was not long before he reached the pool, and while he didn't   
completely understand what he saw, it seemed to confirm his worst  
suspicions.  
  
Joxer was with this girl of his in the dreamscape.   
  
Ollie had lied when he told Joxer that there was no way to   
communicate with the subject one would see in the pool. It had   
not been out of selfishness or greed that he had withheld the   
information, but out of pity. To spare the kid the torture of   
being with the one you love for only a little while until forcibly  
removed. To never really be with them, but exist only in a   
dreamscape for a few hours at a time. It's like masturbation. A  
quick thrill, but ultimately unsatisfying.  
  
Not to mention what it does to the living person on the other end.  
It makes them a basket case. And it was for that reason he had   
stopped using it himself. He had to let Dinah get on with her   
life. He couldn't screw it up anymore than he already had.   
Better to just let her think him dead and move on.  
  
But it looked like Joxer had figured out the pool's secret all on  
his own. Now something was going wrong. And from the looks of   
things, it was on the girl's end. But he couldn't just stand   
there looking at 'em like a chump. Ollie had always been a man of  
action, and the long time of solitude had not taken that away from  
him.  
  
He didn't know what would happen if he tried to intrude in their   
dreamscape, but what the hell, it was worth a shot.  
  
"Queen, you crazy son of a-" he muttered, before throwing himself,  
body and soul, into the pool. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
Joxer didn't know what to do. Here was Gabrielle, clutching her   
heart and reeling in pain, real physical pain, and he didn't know  
what to do. All he could think of was to scream for help. Scream  
that someone come and help him.   
  
"Please, someone come!" he thought. "Why won't someone come?"  
  
He was starting to get hoarse, and his tears were falling into his  
up-turned mouth, but he didn't care. All he could think about was  
Gabrielle. Why wasn't someone helping them?  
  
He was still screaming, begging, when he felt a strong hand upon   
his shoulder.  
  
He looked up and saw his comrade of late, Oliver Queen, the Green  
Arrow.  
  
"Help her..." Joxer simply pleaded.  
  
Ollie wished he could. He really did. He didn't know how the   
hell these damned metaphysical things worked. What he wouldn't   
give to have Dr. Fate or Zatanna here to help him. He was just   
an archer. An ordinary guy. He had tried to leave all this crap  
to the 'big guns' like Supes and GL.  
  
What the hell did this kid want, Ollie asked himself. Wave his   
magic wand, say a few words, and 'abracadabra', she's better?  
  
Ollie took a deep breath and calmed down. "That's exactly what he  
wants," a part of his mind told him. And he couldn't blame him.  
  
"All right, get a grip on yourself Queen. Take this thing one   
step at a time."   
  
Ollie looked Gabrielle over, all the while trying to avoid looking  
at her face, or Joxer's. He didn't think his heart could take it.  
  
And speaking of hearts, that seemed to be where the girl was   
hurting, her heart. From what Ollie could tell, she seemed fine,  
so whatever was affecting her had to be at her end of the link.   
And whatever it was, it had to be bad for her not to have woken   
up by now and broken the link.  
  
***  
It looked bad. Real bad. Xena had been unable to wake Gabrielle,  
and none of the potions she tried lessened the steady progress of  
the poison's march toward her heart.  
  
Xena's eyes still shone with the wet tears that had been coursing  
down her face all morning, and now the afternoon. There was   
nothing Xena could do. Nothing. And the feeling enraged her.   
But it was an impotent rage, with no one or nothing to vent it on.  
  
"What good is a sword if there's no one to use it on?" Xena   
thought bitterly.  
  
There was nothing she could do. Nothing but wait for the   
inevitable.  
  
***  
There was nothing he could do. Ollie dug his head into his hands,  
feeling an impotent rage welling up inside him.   
  
"Why?" he asked himself. "Why is this happening?" What had these  
two kids done that was so wrong as to deserve this? What gods had  
they pissed off to have this done to them?  
  
Ollie had never been what one would term a 'religious man', but he  
knew God after his own fashion. Regardless of what he'd seen,   
what he'd been through, he'd always believed that God was   
compassionate and loving. That in the final accounting, all the   
books would balance. That the good would get their reward and the  
bad 'the big house'.  
  
So, with all the pain around him, Joxer's, Gabrielle's, Ollie did  
something he hadn't done in years.  
  
He prayed.  
  
***  
Xena prayed. Prayed for a miracle. She'd seen them before, so   
she knew they existed. She also knew that she'd had more than   
her fair share of them. But she prayed for just one more. Just   
one more...  
  
***  
Ollie opened his eyes out of frustration. He didn't know what to  
do. He didn't know what to think. He just knelt there, staring   
into the vast nothing in front of him.  
  
And it was then that he saw HIM. 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
At first, Ollie was struck dumb with disbelief. But after a   
moment, comprehension dawned on him.   
  
The Spectre. The embodiment of the Wrath of God himself. One   
of the most powerful entities in his universe, hell, any   
universe. With a direct pipeline to the 'Big Boss Man'   
himself. Pallid white, clad in a green cloak, boots, gloves,   
and shorts. And larger than life.  
  
But even as it registered on Ollie who he was looking at, he   
realized that it wasn't the Spectre. At least, not as he had   
always seen him before.  
  
For instance, where had that green domino mask come from? And   
what was with that blazing symbol on his chest? It almost   
looked like... His train of thought trailed off. Could it--?  
  
Stepping closer, not caring whether that was wise or not, he   
craned his neck upwards...  
  
"Hal...?" Ollie asked incredulously.  
  
The Spectre smiled. Or more accurately, Hal Jordan, the mortal  
soul to which the Sprit of Vengeance was bound to, smiled.  
  
Ollie was beyond disbelief. Way beyond. "You're the Spectre?"  
he asked. "But how? Why? What-" he began, before Hal, or more   
appropriately the Spectre, cut him off.  
  
"Long story. I came to bring you back Ollie. Your time's up   
here. Time to go back home."  
  
It was all too much for Ollie to handle. But never let it be   
said that Oliver Queen couldn't act fast in an emergency, even   
if he wasn't fully aware of what he was doing.  
  
"Stow it ringslinger," Ollie said, falling back into the   
familiar repartee, "we've got something more pressing right   
now."  
  
He filled Hal/Spectre in on the situation and how it had come   
about. Through it all, Hal/Spectre's face went from a bemused   
grin at seeing his friend again to a grim faced, thin lipped   
scowl.  
  
"So that's how things stand Hal," Ollie finished up.   
  
"These two kids deserve to be together, and they don't deserve   
this. And I want to know what the hell you intend to do about   
it."  
  
The human part of the Spectre, the man who was once known as   
Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern of them all, couldn't   
help but chuckle. Oliver Queen was probably the only person   
alive that would demand something of one of the most powerful   
beings in all creation. And expect to get it too, by damn.   
  
Hal had missed his friend more than he had known. Which only   
made him all the sorrier for what he had to say.  
  
"Not much I can do I'm afraid," Hal/Spectre regretfully told   
his friend. "It's not my decision to make Ollie."  
  
"Well, take it upstairs then," Ollie shot back. "Take it up   
with the Big Man himself."  
  
The man who had been Hal Jordan considered his friend.  
  
"I'll try Ollie, but I can't guarantee you anything. I'm   
sorry." And he meant it. He wanted to help his old friend,   
help these people, but it wasn't his call.  
  
"Tell him they can have my place if it'll make any difference,"  
Ollie said. He wanted out of this rat hole more than words   
could express, but he'd been here this long, and he could stay   
here longer if it meant these two kids could be together.   
After all, who was he to stand in the way of 'true love'?  
  
"I'll try. I'm sorry Ol."  
  
"Hey, don't sweat it. You're just the middleman. No hard   
feelings."  
  
Hal/Spectre nodded, and was about to turn away to leave when   
Ollie stopped him.  
  
"Uh, hey, Hal," Ollie started. He didn't really know how to   
say this.  
  
"Listen Hal, I'm sorry about..." He trailed off, finding it   
hard to go on. "You know, I was just--"  
  
"Doing what had to be done," Hal finished for him.  
  
"I was out of control, had to be stopped. No hard feelings   
Ollie. You did what had to be done. In fact, if you hadn't, I  
wouldn't have gotten this chance to redeem myself." He smiled   
at Ollie. "Take care," he said, before turning to vanish into   
the mists just as suddenly as he had come.  
  
"Yeah, take it easy Hal," Ollie said to the vanishing figure.  
  
"Who is that?" Joxer said, finally having been able to find his  
voice.  
  
Ollie's face lit up in a smile. "That, my friend," he said,   
"is our ticket outta here." 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
"So what do we do now?" Joxer asked, unable to take his eyes   
off Gabrielle.  
  
"Sit here and pray," Ollie responded.  
  
It all came down to faith. Faith that right would win out over  
wrong. Faith that things would turn out all right. Faith in   
God.  
  
Like before, Ollie had faith that God was good and just, and   
that he would make the right decision, whatever it may be.   
Though that didn't stop Ollie from having his druthers.  
  
It was out of everyone's hands, save one pair.   
  
It was in-  
  
***  
--God's hands, Xena thought. She had done what she could, and   
could now only sit by helplessly as she watched the poison   
travel further and further down toward Gabrielle's heart.  
  
It was only a matter of minutes now.  
  
***  
Ollie knew the end was near now, for Gabrielle had ceased her   
struggling, and even in this dreamscape felt cold to the touch.   
  
"Come on Hal," Ollie thought, "where's that old 'Jordan Charm'   
that used to drive the ladies wild?"  
  
***  
It was over. The poison had nearly entered her heart, and Xena  
couldn't check the tears that flowed down her face. Yet, for   
all the pain she was feeling, she was also happy for Gabrielle   
in a way. Perhaps she could now achieve what she had wanted.   
For Xena surely knew the point of all this.  
  
***  
It was with a flash of light and a slight sucking sound that   
Hal Jordan, the Spectre, reappeared before them.  
  
One had only to look at Hal's face to know the news.  
  
"Good news. The governor's given you a pardon." And with that,  
he bent down and touched Gabrielle, who then vanished in a   
sparkle of light.  
  
"What--? Where--?" Joxer stammered.  
  
"She's been sent back to the mortal plane," the Spectre   
explained. "Fully healed," he added.  
  
"Now, getting back to why I came here in the first place. Time  
for you to go back buddy boy," Hal said, indicating Ollie.   
"Vacation's over. Time to get back to work." Hal's face split   
into a huge grin.  
  
But at that moment, Ollie had other things on his mind.  
  
"What about the kid?" he said, jabbing a finger at Joxer.   
  
Hal/Spectre frowned. That was a whole other matter.  
  
"It took some persuading," Hal hurried on, seeing that look of   
determination only Ollie Queen could get starting to spread   
across his friend's face -- a determination that even the   
Spectre didn't want to deal with. "But he decided that Joxer   
too should be sent back." It wasn't like there was no precedent  
for it, Hal thought to himself. A point he had raised on their  
behalf.  
  
At this latest event, Joxer was floored. He didn't know what   
to say. He turned from Ollie to the Spectre, thanking each   
profusely, and wringing Ollie by the hands till he thought they  
were going to fall off. And he would have done the same to the  
Spectre -- if he hadn't been 100 feet tall.  
  
"All aboard!" Hal said, as with a gesture he formed two bright   
doorways of light.  
  
"Better get home to your girl," Ollie admonished Joxer. "She's   
waiting for you."   
  
But before Joxer got to the 'doorway', Ollie hailed him one   
last time.  
  
"Hey, listen kid," Ollie said. "When you get back, you take   
that girl, hold her in your arms, and don't ever let go. Come   
hell or high water. You hear me? You got something special   
there, and you hold on to it."  
  
"And if you're ever in my dimension, look me up. I know this   
great greasy spoon down on 12th Street."  
  
Joxer smiled and waved. And with that he stepped through the   
doorway, leaving Ollie alone with the Spectre.  
  
"Well, wish I could say it's been fun..." Ollie began as Hal   
let out a laugh.  
  
"Go on, you old rascal."  
  
"It's been good seeing you Hal," Ollie said. "I'll see you   
around." And with that, he threw himself through the portal. 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Xena had been shocked to see Gabrielle suddenly come to and the  
blue line that had been threading toward her heart disappear.   
But it was nothing compared to what she experienced when,   
literally from out of nowhere, Joxer materialized out of thin   
air.  
  
However, if Xena was rooted in place in amazement at this   
occurrence, Gabrielle was galvanized into action.  
  
She rushed to him, grasping him as hard as she could to make   
sure that this was indeed real. And at the pained look on his   
face, she knew it to be true. At that point, all words were   
superfluous.  
  
She leaned up, pulled his head down, and gave him a kiss that   
made Xena's toes curl, such was its intensity.   
  
After finally breaking for air, and Xena having recovered her   
wits, they all embraced in a bone-jarring, innards-crushing,   
group hug.   
  
At that moment they all knew, Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer, that   
everything would be okay from then on. Because they were   
together. They laughed for joy, and the happy sound rung   
across the valley in the bright, sun filled sky.  
  
Epilogue  
  
Ollie opened his eyes to find that he was standing in a field   
of lush green grass, underneath a cloudless perfect blue sky,   
with the sun winking down merrily.  
  
Straight ahead, there was a stand of trees, and he made for it.  
As he drew nearer, he saw that there was a fair sized sign in   
front of them. Ollie went up to the sign and read what it   
said:  
  
"Star City Municipal Park"  
  
At this sight, he couldn't help but smile. Home. There were   
so many things that he had to do. So much stuff to be done.   
Hal was right, he thought ruefully. His work was just about to  
begin. But he didn't mind one bit.  
  
He'd find Dinah, and they'd work out what they once had. And   
like the phoenix, it would rise from the ashes stronger than   
before. There would be difficulties, no doubt about it. But   
no matter how hard, they would overcome them. Every one of   
them.  
  
For that's how love is. 


End file.
